20 posts and counting

The future of EA Lifestyles

I launched the EA Lifestyles newsletter earlier this year to highlight the diversity of the EA community. I hate hearing a single story about what an EA looks like or sounds like - I want to meet altruistic, data-driven people from all walks of life and and celebrate their stories.

It’s actually been going really well?!? As of this newsletter, we have 145 subscribers and 20 posts. Every single post gets opened by more than half of subscribers (which is objectively great news for Substack writers). My post about not talking about AI got people talking about how we talk about AI. People loved sharing their EA origin stories on Twitter. I had a great time meeting up with Twitter friends at EAG London 2023:

Hanging out with the girlies (gender neutral) at EAG

Cost benefit analysis

Also, writing is fun! Writing is fun enough that I’ve been thinking of doing it for longer. But I’ve been around EA long enough to think about trade offs, and there is an opportunity cost to writing:

• if I were solely focused on altruism, I’d host fundraisers or be a trustee for an effective charity, or at least explore other ways of doing good

• if I were solely focused on good times, I’d spend more time outdoors or reading a good book

So I am planning to put the blog back into hibernation in July.

Unless…

If you love the EA Lifestyles newsletter and want to keep seeing it in your inbox each week, you could subscribe to a paid version. Then I could use the subscription money to pay for cleaning and babysitting help, freeing me up to write while still having time for other leisure and altruism!

The future of EA Lifestyles

So here’s the plan:

• If 0-24 people subscribe to the paid version of the newsletter, I’ll cancel the paid version after a month and you won’t be charged beyond that. If you signed up for an annual subscription, 11/12ths of it will be returned, as far as I can tell. I’ll send out the free edition from time to time, but not on a regular schedule.

• If 25-100 people subscribe to the paid version of the newsletter, I’ll keep sending out a weekly free newsletter and cross-posting to the Forum when relevant. I’ll also publish a bit of fun bonus content for paid subscribers only.

• If more than 100 people subscribe to the paid version of the newsletter, I’ll start sending out two free weekly newsletters (probably one personal essay and one interview-based piece), plus publish bonus content for paid subscribers.

I love EA Lifestyles but can’t afford £5 a month :(

No worries! Anyone who’s on a low income is welcome to a free subscription. You’ll get all the same perks as a paid member. Just insert your email address here.

Thank you

Thank you for spending a part of your week with me every single week. I don’t take it for granted. Being part of a community of people who are actively working to make the world better feels amazing, and I’m so glad to know you.

Lots of love,

Kirsten